Thursday, August 17, 2006

DEJA'VU2U2UV`AJED - email from Peg [Cookenboo] GANT

VISIBLE atmospheric Vortex (not a tornado) Sedona, Arizona, 2000 AD.

Peg(i) was Hank's first wife, part of the Dallas migration to Phoenix and the VERY FIRST Secretary for KCAC at Wallich's Music City. We KNEW we were uptown then! Peg has promised to send many more photos for us all to share here. but for now - memories, memories, memories.~~~~~~~~~~~~Yes, I remember Rich and Karla Rogers – what a magnificent black man he was – and Karla with the flaming red hair! Rich had a righteous jazz show on a little station in downtown Phoenix. I’ll never forget partying at his house one night when he got off on a rap about slowing down and relaxing and if you sit on the toilet long enough, you can have two bowel movements!!! Ahhh, those were the days of enlightened, intellectual conversations!

The name of the halfway house Hank and I ran was the Maverick House. You may recall that the drug rehab part was an off-shoot of the Maverick House AA program. The house on Latham was magnificent and the people who came in and out of our lives were a kaleidoscope of kooks and some creeps, but always a rainbow of diversity. Remember “The Family”? I remember Bill and Bill, and an outrageous black woman who kept them in line. I have more info at home. They had a more holistic approach to getting folks off drugs – it was called marijuana – I have some photos I will send you of our trip to Oak Creek Canyon for a summer solstice celebration with all of those folks. I pretty much documented that whole period of my life in photos – which I treasure like precious jewels. I even have some photos of our time in Dallas before we all migrated to Phoenix and joined the wee people.

Went to Oak Creek with my crew in 1995.. The forest service had walled up Slide Rock - was charging $5 to park and $5 each to get in. Same at the campgrounds. Mamma Nature came through there spring 2005 with a flood and restored it all.......... YYYYYYYYaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!

THUS SPRACH PEG:

Yeah, I was there in 2004 and couldn’t believe the changes. When we on that big summer solstice camp-a-thon, we couldn’t even reach the canyon by car. We all had to park our vehicles and hike 2 miles or so, back into the canyon and to the camp sites. But man, was it worth it. I remember we all nearly froze our bums off, but the music, food, creek, and the beautiful nature was so wonderful and the fellowship so awesome, no one notice the temperature.

Oh dear, Rich Rodgers...what a great congalero...Our own Richie Havens, indeed, a most beautiful person...Use to hang with him in the studio of KXIV ?, Jim Sparrow, Mort Feiger, dear, Ira Levin...Thanks for the memorys....RWG